Empty Shell
by Suihanki
Summary: The Arisen is learning the differences and the similarities between humans and pawns. Maybe they're not as different as everyone thinks. Her pawns have been experiencing serious problems that must be addressed, and eventually she too will have to face her fears. Warning: Contains nonsexual spanking - don't like, don't read please. F/M, M/F and eventually F/F. Rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1 - Empty Shell

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello everyone! Now, who would have guessed that I'm back with more SPANKING fictions. I know, big shocker right? Sorry I've not had that much to update with lately, my health has been a tad shitty. However! I am back with a new fiction.

This one is for the newest video game I've gotten, Dragon's Dogma. I really thought I'd hate this video game… but I ended up LOVING it for the very thing I thought I'd hate it for - the Pawn System. The Pawns honestly intrigue me! The whole idea of them is just fascinating to me, especially after having finished a certain part of the game. That part has inspired me to write this fic! For those of you that are familiar with the game, the three pawns I mention in this fic are the three pawns I am using at the time in this game. I am not someone that switches out their pawns very often - I like to keep a solid, lengthy party around. Sybille is my main pawn, she's mainly a support Mage (though I'm thinking of changing her to a Fighter). This story is centered around my hired Ranger, Mez, which was created by a good friend of mine - he has given me permission to write this story about Mez. Yey! Since the creator of my Warrior is a rather NEW friend of mine and they do not know that I am a spanko. So I obviously do not have their permission to put their pawn in this fic. SO. I have cut her name in half and she does not speak in the entire thing, hah! xD

If any of you like this fic and play Dragon's Dogma on the Xbox, I'd love to make some friends on there!

So yus! I hope you enjoy my newest fic and my point of view on the pawns. My Arisen is a female, so that is what the Arisen in this fic will be... since this Arisen is based off my Arisen O:

NOTE: For those of you that are unfamiliar with this game but still want to read my fic, let me explain a bit about the game. It's an RPG style game, in which you play as someone called "The Arisen". ((Slight spoiler in this next sentence)) In the beginning of the game you try to fight off a dragon attacking the village. The dragon seems to find you pathetic, hah, but it also seems to respect you for trying to fight it... it rips your heart out with its claw, saying something along the lines of "if you would face me, then take up arms!" and even though you have no heart, you survive the attack. That is when you are given the name "Arisen" and you find out that there have been other Arisen's before you, and that it is an extremely important and powerful role. In the game, you meet people called "pawns." Pawns are not human, though they look human. They lack the will and tenacity of humans... and have a very hard time making decisions on their own. So they sell themselves as sell swords. However, all pawns are loyal to the Arisen, and the Arisens before him/her. They swear their allegiance to them, and make it their first priority to assist the Arisen. You create one "main pawn" and share them online, letting other "Arisens in other realms" hire them. You can hire two additional pawns at a time, hiring and releasing as many times as you'd like throughout the game. I like to keep a steady party instead of changing it up constantly. Many say that pawns are empty, emotionless shells... and I just don't feel that way. They just seem to need some guidance. Each pawn has their own personality, look, skills, powers, and fighting inclinations.

WARNING: This fic contains **nonsexual spanking.** If that kind of thing offends you, then perhaps this fic is not for you. Rated MA to be safe.

r&r下さい！ありがとうございます！

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EMPTY SHELL

"I SHALL GRAB ITS LEG! STRIKE AT ITS EYE!" Mez shouted, clutching onto the towering beast's leg and scurrying up. The Ranger was always the first in to battle, even before the Warrior of the group. He had saved the Arisen and his fellow pawns on various occasions, though he normally tried to be modest. He clung onto the Cyclops' leg, shouting for the Arisen to deliver the final blow. She took aim carefully at its eye, releasing a fully charged and powerful ingle, lighting its one and only eye ablaze. Finally after a lengthy battle, the gigantic beast crumpled to the ground, Mez jumping off just before it hit the ground. He landed on his feet and dusted himself off, looking around and doing a headcount of his comrades… feeling great ease to discover they were all there and breathing. The Arisen, however, was hunched over, hands on her knees and gasping for air. He ran to her side, and after quickly inspecting her and realizing that she was fine, let out a snarky and rather annoyed "You need help AGAIN…?"

She gasped for air, slowly regaining her vitality… looking up at him with confusion, annoyance, and a bit of anger. His attitude had changed so much since he first came to her in The Rift. He was so excited, so eager, and unbelievably kind and giving. He never hesitated to come to the rescue, and when he did he did it happily. She had grown to care for all three of the pawns she traveled with, and wanted to know what had changed his attitude so much over the last few months. Arisen did not fall for the talk of pawns being empty and hollow beings - she did not take them for emotionless… she had come to realize in her travels how full of emotion these beings actually were, they were just very bad at expressing it, and had a very hard time making hard decisions on their own. Arisen saw her pawns as family, and knew she could not continue on without knowing what was driving Mez to change so drastically.

Arisen, Sybille, Mez and Merry finally exited the fort, looking up to the sky and attaching their lanterns to their belts. As they made their way to the rest stop they heard a deep, malicious growling. It was not long before Sybille let out a high pitched scream, "THERE master! Wolves!" At this position in their travels a small pack of wolves was nothing for them, however… while casting Ingle to save Sybille from being eaten by a wolf twice her size, the Arisen was caught off guard. A large wolf leaped in the air, pouncing on her and shoving her into the dirt. She screamed for help, trying desperately to escape the animal's teeth… before Mez took it out with an arrow in one blow, it going straight through the head. It slumped against her - she struggled to get out from underneath it, grabbing her arm where the wolf had had its teeth embedded. Mez gently held her arm and looked it over, saying in yet another annoyed tone, "Ah, what would you ever do without me?" She looked up at him in anger this time, eyes squinted as she pulled her arm away from him and walked further towards the rest stop. Mez shrunk down a bit in his head, realizing that perhaps he'd pushed the envelope. He followed Arisen and the other two back to the rest camp, slowly… about 5 paces behind the rest of them.

After finally arriving at the camp, they all dropped their things in the tents and finally took a seat. Arisen didn't bother sitting down. She simply approached Mez and uttered quietly, "Mez, could you come talk to me if it's not too much trouble?" She asked both politely and almost sarcastically. He could tell she was not happy with him… he rose to his feet and nodded, following her back behind one of the tents. She sat down on the nearby stump with a loud PLOP, folding her arms and looking up at him with an inquisitive stare. He looked at his feet and avoided eye contact, knowing he must have really made her unhappy. She just looked up at him, and after a moment of silence just blurted "What has been going on with you, Mez?"

"I…" he stuttered, "I am afraid I do not know what you're talking about, Arisen…" he lied through his teeth.

She gave him THE look, and he backed up a little, still staring at the ground, shifting from foot to foot nervously. "Mez. You have done nothing but criticize myself and your fellow pawns for the past week or so. I will be blunt, your belligerence currently knows no bounds."

"That is NOT-" he paused and stopped himself, going red in the face… not with anger, but with shame… realizing that she was right. "That is… I… uh…" He stumbled for his words, not able to think of the correct words to use. Instead he just stared at the dirt, letting out a quiet "…you are right… I am sorry, Arisen…"

Arisen looked at him curiously, "'Tis… alright. But why have you been acting this way? 'Tis hardly like yourself."

Mez looked to her briefly before looking back down to the ground, letting out an almost too immediate "N-No reason Arisen! No reason. It shall not happen again. Pray, let us go back to the fire…?" He sounded desperate, and Arisen could tell he was highly uncomfortable, so she decided to cut him some slack and walk back with him to the fire. As they all sat around the fire and spoke of their travels, the normally talkative Mez stayed unusually silent. She sighed and announced that she would sleep, standing slowly and stretching before entering her tent. Mez stayed at the fire with the others, remaining silent while Sybille and Merry gabbed of the wolf attack.

As morning lit the sky, light flew into Arisen's tent… stirring her from a rather deep sleep. She groaned a bit and rolled over… wanting to be lazy for once in her life, but with the tent as bright as it was… it was obvious that was not going to happen. She rolled her eyes and crawled out of the tent, looking around to see where her party was. Sybille and Merry were out by the water's edge, keeping watch for Saurians… but she saw no Mez. She scanned the grounds for a moment, to notice he was in the most obvious place… still at the fire pit. She frowned and dusted herself off, wandering over to the pit and sitting down as well. She looked at him inquisitively, as if asking what what wrong. He avoided her gaze, staring at the ashy fire pit. He didn't want to burden the Arisen anymore than she had to be… her world was complicated and stressful enough without his help.

She sighed, not willing to be ignored. "Talk to me…" she stated gently, rather concerned, "What is ailing you…?"

"'Tis nothing, Arisen," Mez defensively hissed. He kept his gaze to the ash, hoping she would just grab her things and tell them to head to Gran Soren.

Arisen folded her arms and watched him closely, "Well Mez we're not leaving this camp until you tell me what's going on… I cannot have us out there fighting… ANYTHING… with you in such a reminiscent state. We will not work well as a team…"

He at first looked annoyed, but then almost instantly looked rather grieved… he could not honestly say he could battle at maximum proficiency like this. He fumbled for his words, completely unsure of how to put it. After several minutes of thinking, he just let out quietly, "I… do not know the word for it."

She unfolded her arms and listened, "What do you mean…?"

Mez shrugged a bit and kicked at some of the ashes, "I do not know what words humans use to describe what I am thinking, master…"

Arisen blinked for a moment and leaned forward a bit, "Try to describe it in different words then…?"

"I…" he stuttered a bit as he thought for a moment, "I… suppose… I… er… I treated you… all of you… rather poorly, Arisen. I possibly even put us in… danger. I do not like how it feels to know I did such…"

Her face almost instantly softened, going from impatience and curiosity, to care. Arisen rose from her seat and took a seat next to him, speaking quietly, "We call that guilt, Mez… you feel guilty."

"Guilt…?" He repeated back, she nodded slowly. He asked solemnly, "How do you normally rid yourself of guilt, Arisen…?"

She blinked for a moment, not expecting that kind of question. She thought for a moment, trying to think of her words carefully, "Well… I apologize to those that I wronged, I suppose. 'Tis easier to move on if they forgive me… and you know I forgave you last night…"

He nodded slowly, looking down at his hands, "I feel… horrible, Arisen. I have failed you, and the others…" he began to stutter again, trailing off into something incomprehensible.

She frowned and interjected, "You've not forgiven YOURSELF then, Mez. 'Tis important. Possibly more important than me forgiving you…" she tried to convince him, "So you became a bit vile for a bit, 'tis not the end of the world. There are worse things one can do…"

Mez brought his arms around himself, almost as if hugging himself… raising his voice a bit, not angry, just rather upset, "But this is what I exist to DO Arisen!" He finally looked her in the eye, "This is what I am for! And I have messed that up! I am a pawn… this is all I am good for… and I…" he trailed off again, looking back to the ground.

She looked to him sadly, before placing a hand on his shoulder and uttering a quiet, "I shall be right back." Arisen walked over to each of the guards and her pawns, and explained that she needed them all to surround the camp, keeping about 20 paces from it in each direction, and keep watch. She told them she did not want them to come back into the camp to get her unless there was an emergency, and let the guards know there would be compensation if they cooperated. With the promise of gold, there was no fight. They surrounded the camp and kept watch, 20 paces away. She returned to Mez, and offered her hand down to him. He looked up at her confused, but placed his hand in hers. She slowly led him to behind one of the tents, where the stump was. She took a seat, and began to explain, "Mez… I do not know how things are handled in The Rift… but we humans have a few ways to handle guilt. I grew up in a small fishing village, Mez." She explained further, not willing to dive right in to action without explaining to the rather shaken up pawn, "My family there knows me better than anyone. They also know I have a conscience of pure glass. The few I trusted the most finally figured out there was a way to shake me of my guilt, though I of course never admitted it helped nearly as much as it did." She thought of her words carefully, feeling rather awkward as she explained, "Mez… you do know what punishment is…?"

He nodded slowly, "Of course Arisen. Jail time, execution…" he trailed off with all of the possibilities he knew of.

Arisen couldn't help but smile just a bit, "Yes… those are some. But the kind I'm thinking of won't cause one any permanent harm, nor take up more than twenty minutes or so of their time…" He just looked at her confused. He'd only seen the world of war, to be honest. He knew of nothing else. She carried on, "The kind I am talking about is given by someone that cares about the other, something family would do, Mez."

"Family…?" He looked confused, yet somewhat hopeful. Perhaps she had a way to help him get back to normal.

She nodded slowly, "Yes Mez, family… that is how I see you, Sybille and Merry…" He looked shocked! He'd been alive quite some time, probably three times as long as Arisen had been alive… and he had met many humans, but knew very little of the human world and had _certainly_ never had a human call him family. He did not know how to respond, or even how to feel. Arisen just continued with, "I just need you to trust me, Mez. I need you to trust that this will not bring you any permanent harm and that it will make you feel better, even if it seems bizarre." Truly, Arisen was taking a gamble. Who's to say if the same things that make people feel better make pawns feel better? She had to try.

"I…" Mez thought for a moment. He was willing to try almost anything at this point. He wanted to be of use to his party again, and to get rid of this rather sick feeling in his stomach. He had grown to trust the Arisen with everything he had in the last few months, and figured this situation would be no different. "I trust you, Arisen…"

She smiled gently up at him, before taking a deep breath and nodding. "Alright then. Here is what I need you to do. I want you to lay, face down over my lap." He looked at her curiously, but did as he was told, positioning himself over her lap. She rubbed his back for a moment, before going on to explain some more, "Now comes the strange part, Mez. I am going to lower your lower garments so we can get this done more effectively, and so you feel it better."

"F…Feel it better?" He was beginning to wonder if he was going to regret this.

Arisen slowly lowered his pants and under dressings to his knees, making sure his bottom and thighs were exposed. He instantly began to squirm a bit, feeling rather uncomfortable, and a bit embarrassed. She could tell that he was beginning to panic, so she rubbed his back again, trying to soothe him. "I will not lie to you, Mez. This will hurt. But you will be alright… try to have faith." He was not sure why, but that calmed him a bit… he held still and just tried to breathe. "I made sure that the only person that MIGHT even remotely be able to see this is Sybille, so do not worry…" she tried to calm his nerves more, though thinking she was probably making it worse. Sybille was very trustworthy, and would not even think of mocking Mez. There had to be SOMEONE on that side, guarding for Saurians… so she made sure it was Sybille. Arisen took a deep breath - truth be told, this was her first time not on the receiving end, and she was a tad nervous. "I am going to begin now, Mez… are you ready…?" He nodded, he was sure it would be fine. He's gotten shot with arrows, stabbed, blasted with fire. He could handle whatever she was going to do, he was sure of it.

She nodded and rose her hand up in the air, bringing it down firmly against his bottom. He gasped a bit and jolted forward, the type of pain he was experiencing not quite what he expected. It wasn't too horrible though, so he positioned himself back in place and shut his eyes, bracing himself. After she saw how he handled the first swat, she delivered several more, even harder… one after another. He was still convinced that this would be a piece of cake. Some smacking compared to all those arrows he got in the back? No problem. However, as Arisen began to spread the burn more evenly and even faster still… he was not so sure. It was becoming harder to stay still. He couldn't believe how different this pain was compared to what he was used to… and what he really couldn't believe was that he was already squirming from just a few good smacks. He held his composure though, wanting to make up for what he had done and not wanting to let Arisen down.

Arisen watched his movements carefully. She did not want to overwhelm him too badly but she could see she was going to have to step it up a notch if she was going to make an impact, and most of all, get him to forgive himself. She took a deep breath before moving the spanks down to his sitspots and thighs. He immediately let out a pained yelp, then covered his mouth with his hand - he couldn't believe he was yelling out from something like this. He shut his eyes tighter, trying so hard to keep quiet… but he was no longer able.

"A-a-AH!" He shouted out, "A-Arisen! Please!"

She smacked his thighs harder, "I do not think so, Mez. We are not done here." It pained her to say so… but she knew she could not stop just yet. They were not finished, though she could tell that it would not take much to get through to him. "You've gotten yourself in this position, Mez…" she tried to be stern, "You've been nothing but rude the past week and I am intent to make sure that it does not happen anymore."

As she paid close attention to his thighs, he cried out, "a…aAH! It… it will not, Arisen! I-It will not aAHN happen a…again! It will not!" He gritted his teeth, cringing and squirming about. As she continued on, he could not take much more. He felt rather weak, giving in so quickly, but he could not help it - he reached back and covered his bottom with his right hand. "P-Please! No m-more Arisen!" He felt embarrassed at the weakness, glad that his bandit's mask was covering most of his face.

Arisen sighed, knowing what she had to do. She gently but firmly grabbed his wrist with her free hand and pinned it to his back, winding her arm back and bringing it back down once again, twice as hard… focussing on spreading the burn evenly now between his bottom, thighs and sitspots. "I am sorry Mez, but I cannot allow you to do that - I could hurt your hand."

Mez let out a whine, a noise neither him nor the Arisen even knew he was capable of making. He kicked his legs just slightly, yelping every few smacks, "AaaAAH! P-Pleassssseeee! I am s-sorry A-Arisen! It will not happen a-again! N-Never again!"

Truth be told, she was not all that worried about him repeating that same mistake again, but there were two more things she wanted to go over. "I should hope not. I am sure you will do just fine, Mez. But there is one thing I want to make PERFECTLY clear." She took a deep breath and began to smack at full force, "Aiding me is most DEFINITELY NOT the only thing you are good for. Don't you ever… ever… let the other humans get to you and force that thinking on you! You may be a pawn but you are still MEZ. Not _Mez_ the _pawn_. You are _Mez_. There are PLENTY of things you are good at and I do not EVER want you thinking like that again! Am I understood…?" Her voice was wavering and she was beginning to tear up, shocked at the fact that he thought such a horrendous thing about himself.

He was shocked, himself. Completely shocked. Even through the pain he froze, not able to believe she had said such a thing. No human had ever seen him as on the same level as them. She gave him a good, hard smack to one of his thighs. He yelled out, realizing she was expecting an answer. He let out a rather shaky "Y-Yes Arisen… I… I… u-understand."

She took a deep breath in, and stopped to rub his rather warm and swollen bottom… not finished, but giving him a break. Mez also took a deep, wavering breath… shocked at both her words and her physical strength… he had not expected the sorcerer to have so much upper body strength. Arisen kept rubbing, one more thing left to discuss on her mind. "Mez…" she began, "T'was more than obvious last night… that you have been acting so vile for a reason. And I want to know that reason." He began to shake a bit, not wanting to share his reasoning, knowing she wouldn't like it. She could feel him tense at the question; she moved her left hand to his head and stroked his hair a bit, trying to encourage him to talk to her.

He relaxed a bit as she ran her fingers through his hair, shutting his eyes tight and muttering "I… I… I did not want to be j-just… another pawn, Arisen. A-All I ever hear from humans is that we are a-all alike… that we are just empty shells… emotionless… uninteresting… all too w-willing to do the bidding of a-another." Mez felt an odd sensation, as if his face was on fire, his eyes beginning to burn as well. He, himself knew he was not emotionless… it was just harder for him to express those emotions without a bit of help. But when one constantly hears such things about themselves, they begin to resent themselves, and that was exactly what he felt. Resentment. Hatred for what he was. "I… I just wanted to… stand out. I j-just wanted to be interesting, A-Arisen…"

Arisen teared up further, taking a deep breath and sighing. How does one respond to that? She didn't know, but she'd have to try. She spoke as gently as she could to him, "Mez… you've always been interesting. You… you've always been fine just how you were…" Now that she had the answers, she knew how to finish off. She ruffled his hair a bit while patting his bottom a few times, warning that there was more to come. He grit his teeth, knowing what was coming. Arisen reared her hand back and landed it crisply on the pawn's bottom. He cringed and yelled out as her hand landed, the noise echoing throughout the rest stop. She kept a good hold on him, spanking at full force again on every little inch, ready to finish this up. "Being kind… being giving and helpful… being eager to learn and help others…" she did her best to keep her composure, "That does not make you uninteresting, Mez… that makes you who you ARE. And we all love who you are…"

Mez began to tear up, a sensation he had never really felt in the past. He closed his eyes tighter, trying to keep it inside as he protested, "B-But…"

"No buts." She insisted gently, smacking at full speed now, "There is _nothing_ wrong with you Mez. Nothing at all. And I don't want to ever see you letting people tell you otherwise… or you shall find yourself right back over my knee. Am I understood?"

"A…aAH!" He yelled out, jolting forward and beginning to shake again, "Y-Yes Arisennnn, I u-understand…" He shut his eyes tighter, a few tears spilling over and down his face. He put his hand up to his face, feeling the wetness - he was crying. This was something he didn't even know he could do… and though that actually made him happy, it also made him cry more. He let out a choked sob, trying still to hold the tears back. Arisen could tell this was what he needed, so she continued with the spanking, focussing on his sitspots to bring it all together. He kept his eyes clenched tightly shut, but he could not hold it in anymore - the dams finally burst. Mez let out a few more choked sobs, before releasing a long and pained wail. He went limp over her lap, no longer struggling.

She finally stopped, rubbing his sore bottom gently before helping a sobbing Mez up to sit on her lap. Arisen did not care that he was taller than her, he needed her now and that was what he would get. She wrapped her arms around him lovingly and supportively, holding him as close as she could. He clung onto her weakly but desperately, his arms wrapped around her neck, face buried into her shoulder… gasping for air as he bawled. She lifted his chin to try to help him breathe, noticing his bandit's mask was completely drenched in tears. She frowned and untied the back of it, freeing it from his face so he could breathe easier. Mez instantly felt more comfortable, but also felt even more vulnerable, burying his face back into her shoulder to hide his face, crying harder and sputtering, "I am s-sorry A-Arisen! I a-am… I am s-sorry…! I will never f-fail you a…again!"

Arisen held him closer and stroked his hair calmly, "Ssssssshhh, You have never failed me… not once. 'Tis done and over with, Mez… 'tis all over…" She spoke quietly and gently, trying to calm him, "You need not apologize anymore…" She did not want him thinking that such trivial things meant failure. Arisen stroked the boy's hair gently, doing her best to calm his cries, "Do not worry… I am here…"

Mez wasn't sure why, but that both reassured him and scared him. He clung onto her tighter, shakily crying out, "A-Arisen… do not g-go…!"

Smiling gently, she held him closer… rubbing his sore backside gingerly. "I am not… going _anywhere, _Mez… I am right here," she spoke quietly, wrapping one arm around him tighter and cradling the back of his head with her other hand.

He finally let his body relax, no longer burying his face, just resting his head on her shoulder. Mez finally felt like he could forgive himself, but at the same time he couldn't stop the tears now that they were flowing. Arisen just held him close, letting him cry out any frustrations he had… knowing that he must have been holding those fears in for a while, without a clue of how to bring them up. All she could think about was how it must be so horrible to not know how to express yourself without help. She would hold him there as long as it took, whispering praise and encouragement. As the minutes passed and Mez's cries became sniffles, she brushed the stray red hairs out of his face, "Are you feeling any better…?"

Mez hiccuped a bit and nodded, hanging onto her weakly, just emotionally exhausted. He was not used to exposing that many emotions… or any for that matter.

"And the guilt…?" She prodded gently as she wiped his face with his mask.

He stopped for a moment then looked to her with red rimmed, yet hopeful eyes, "'Tis… 'tis gone, Arisen…" he felt as if a boulder was lifted from his chest - he could breathe again… though at the cost of being extremely sore.

She smiled and rubbed his behind, which only caused him to wince. Arisen smiled at him sympathetically and said "It will feel better soon, do not worry. You have been through much worse. You are strong, Mez… you will be just fine."

Mez paused for a moment and looked up at her. He finally let out a smile, nodding. He would be okay. He had a family now, and no longer needed to prove he was not an empty shell.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE

Well guys, that's that! I hope you enjoyed it, and look forward to your thoughts. I only wrote it in one day, hah. But regardless, I hope you enjoyed it.

And I just wanted to say this - I know from experience that it's perfectly possible to cry from a simple hand spanking when you've experienced far worse on a daily basis without making a noise. xD hah...

-Yuna


	2. Chapter 2 - Losing Control

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Well, after playing more Dragon's Dogma and having a million and one situations happen that made me want to write more, I've decided to turn the one shot, Empty Shell, into a series. It's actually a tad odd writing this because I've since begun New Game plus… and I've turned Sybille into a Fighter named Axel for a while (Axel's now a Ranger, and Mez is a Strider) and I've had to switch out Merry for a mage. But I will stick to my first play through's party! I hope you enjoy these next few chapters, and hope it's all alright. After all, this is my first chapter fic since Inner Demon, which I wrote when I was 17, back in 2007.

Just wanted to shout out to my friends** Emily** and **Allyson**, who have been very supportive as I've written this chapter. O:

**I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT! Soon I will be changing my Pen Name! I just wanted to let the few readers I have know... if you can't find LawlietNoOtaku, that's because I've changed my Pen Name!**

Enjoy! r&r下さい〜！ありがとうございます！

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It was almost… dead. Almost doesn't cut it. Almost doesn't save you when you are held securely in the hands of a Drake. Mez looked up at the Drake with wide, green eyes… fear filling his every fiber of being. No, he could not die… but there were worse things that could happen, and he knew it. He'd heard the horror stories from the other pawns. He knew what was coming next, and he was not ashamed to admit that he was petrified.

The Drake's steely eyes stared into his, making an instant connection. His whole world began to turn a deep, blood red, as the Drake muttered in a horrible, raspy voice, "I am your Master now." Mez felt his body relax… why? Why was he relaxing? Oh God… the stories were true. This couldn't be happening… this just wasn't RIGHT. No. No. NO. Why? All he could think was WHY. Why was this happening to him… right when he finally got his life back on track - right when he was back to his old self? Sybille and Merry looked on in horror, both rather beaten up to begin with as they tried desperately to make the beast drop him.

He could feel himself losing the power to control his body. He yelled down to Arisen, who was staring up at him in pure shock and horror. "I… Master, I…" he gasped, struggling to keep control, "I cannot control… myself… you must…" his world turned to a foggy haze, the ability to speak escaping from him before he could finish his instructions.

Arisen's eyes boiled over with anger, taking out her staff and summoning a fierce Comestion. The flames leaped high into the air, stinging at the Drakes arm. It finally dropped Mez, and knowing he was finally out of its grasp, she fired every spell she had in her arsenal. She was ANGRY, and she was not ready to let this thing get away with hurting her pawns. Full of adrenaline, Arisen ripped the Drake to pieces, dodging its fire and wing beats. It finally crumpled to the ground, looking to her with both a sad and hysteric grin. It… knew something she did not.

Mez stood there on the ground, body trembling as he did his best to keep control. His sight just got foggier and foggier, just barely able to make out who was who. His arm slowly reached back, drawing his bow from his back. He watched in horror as his hand then reached back for a poison arrow, loading it into the bow and getting ready to shoot. He wanted to scream! He wanted to tell his comrades to run but no words came out. Mez struggled for control, yearning to harness even a sliver of it back. The arrow was released, and much to his surprise he was able to grasp just enough control to arch the arrow just a bit to the left - causing the arrow to nick her arm.

Arisen grunted as the arrow nicked her, having thought the threat was extinguished. She turned around to see her new attacker, only to see Mez… eyes solid black, holding his bow pointed toward her. She could not understand, or comprehend what was happening… at least not fast enough. Her vision began to distort, the poison working its way through her body. She could feel her body slowing, and a sickening feeling surging through her. Mez loaded another arrow into his bow, against his will. He was stuck in his head, watching the whole terrible thing unfold right in front of him.

"OOPH!" Mez finally found himself pinned to the ground, Merry holding him down firmly. She looked petrified; not because she'd never seen this before, oh no, quite the contrary - she had been in his position before. She knew very well he could hear her, so she said shakily, holding him down, her face inches from his, "I'll get you out of there, Mez! H-Hang on just a bit longer. Sybille! Tend to the poison!" Mez's body struggled against her's, no matter how hard he tried to tell his body to hold still. Merry swiped her turquoise hair from her face before leaping to her feet, drawing her sword. Mez's body shakily rose to its feet, but before it could stand completely, Merry plunged her sword into his chest. Inside his head, Mez was rejoicing - he never thought he'd be so happy to be stabbed in the chest. Things began to fade - he hoped his comrades would act quickly.

Merry scrambled, hoisting Mez over her shoulder and hurrying him to Arisen's side, "Arisen! Arisen, now! Bring him back, now!" Arisen was slightly rocked by the fear in Merry's voice. Considering that Pawns could not die, she couldn't understand why she was so flighty.

Never the less, she put her hands on Mez's shoulders, pulling on her energy to stop him from returning to the Rift, "Mez… Mez you have to come back now… the Drake is gone." His eyes opened slowly, the haze disappearing slowly from his vision. He looked up to Arisen, still in shock - staying on his back. She looked down at him, concerned… he had been so excited up until today; now when she looked into his eyes all she saw was a defeated, horrified stare. "Come Mez, let's… let's get you sitting up." She helped him to an upright position, checking him over - she had brought her Pawns back from the brink of the rift before, and they had never looked so shaken. She couldn't find a scratch on him, so she rose to her feet, hooking her arm under his and helping him get to his own, as well. He still said nothing, just walked back to the direction of Cassardis. She frowned and looked to the others, "I think Mez has the right idea. Let's head back."

As they ventured back to Arisen's hometown, Merry eventually gathered the courage to jog up to Mez's side. The silence was brutally deafening. She gave him a sympathetic smile that only someone that had been where he was could give, "Mez… do not hold this inside forever… or you will lose yourself to insanity. I… I would know." He teared up just slightly, nodding his head quietly and desperately looking for the gate to Cassardis. He was so relieved to see how close they were. He was eternally grateful that the Maker saw fit to not have them run into any bandits or wolves on the way, but had to wonder what the reasoning was for that damn Drake.

After finally entering the humble little town, they headed toward Arisen's house. Mez kept quiet, but was unable to hide the fact that he was still trembling from the petrifying encounter. Arisen furrowed her brow, looking to Sybille and Merry, "Would you two be willing to go into town for an hour or so?" She handed them some gold, "We need to stock up on our food stores, and we need some more Potent Greenwarish as well." They nodded, understanding exactly what she needed them to do, running off into town. Arisen looked back to her skittish pawn, opening the door and ushering him inside. He shuffled his way inside, standing by her bed awkwardly and staring at the floor. She bit her lip, trying to figure out how to approach this, "…Talk to me, Mez…"

He looked up a little from the floor, "What… what shall I say…?" He had no clue what to talk about. No, that was a lie. He knew what to talk about, he just didn't know how to start.

"Tell me what you're thinking… tell me what is going through your head right now…" she tried to coax him to speak, able to tell from Merry's reactions that this was a big deal, despite all of them being alive and well.

Mez wanted to tell her everything he was thinking. He really did want to get it off of his chest… but it just wasn't that simple - not in his mind. He diverted his eyes to the ground, "I am fine, Master."

Arisen folded her arms, "pray, do not lie to me, Mez. I am younger than you but I was not born yesterday - there is aught on your mind."

He kept his gaze on the floor, not wanting to revisit the fact that he was capable of crying. He knew holding it in would only make it worse, but he would much rather internalize it and let it fester.

She waited a while, but still no answer. Arisen knew she might be pushing him too hard, but Merry's reaction convinced her that this was necessary. She got to her feet and cupped his face in her hands, making direct eye contact, "I do not know what is going on inside of your head, Mez, but by the Maker… I will not let whatever is going on in there destroy you. Now pray, tell me what is going on or we shall have to put our travels on hold until you do. We cannot function like this, and I will not sit back and watch this devour you." Her words were calm, but firm, her eyes burning into his. Not only was she concerned with Mez's well being, but he was her strongest and quickest acting pawn - they couldn't work as a team like this, and she was not going to send him back to The Rift and get someone else.

Mez's eyes widened as she forced him to make eye contact and explained herself. He knew she was right but he didn't want to admit it. Despite his hesitation, his eyes began to brim with tears, "It… it was so a-awful, Arisen… I… I cannot even put it into w-words." He pulled his face out of her hands, knees buckling. He plopped down on to her bed, burying his face into his hands and doing his best not to break down right there and then. Arisen frowned, taking a seat next to him and placing her hand on his knee. She didn't say a word, as she honestly had no idea what one should say in such a situation. Mez pulled his hands away from his face just long enough to look her in the eyes and utter quickly, "I have f-failed you, Arisen!" The further he got into the sentence the louder his words got, having a difficult time containing himself. He buried his face back into his hands, shoulders shaking.

Arisen's eyes widened and her brow furrowed, "Mez, what happened was not your fault, it was-"

"I nearly killed you, Arisen!" Mez shouted loudly, voice wavering.

She shook her head, "you merely nicked my arm, I am fine."

"I was not originally aiming for your a-arm, Arisen!" Mez shouted, getting to his feet, "I was a-aiming for your CHEST! I was going to shoot you in the chest and KILL you A-Arisen!" His body was trembling with fury now. He wasn't sure who he was so angry at. It wasn't Arisen, and he wasn't even sure if it was himself… but he was immeasurably angry. He shouted again, throwing his arms out to his sides, "you do not GO to The Rift, Arisen… you DIE!" Arisen's eyes showed immense concern as her most level-headed pawn shouted at her. "I…I-I…" he couldn't finish his sentence, not even sure where he was going with this. Mez dropped his hands back to his sides, gaze falling to the ground.

Arisen's gaze softened. She reached out and grabbed his wrist, gently guiding him to sit back down next to her. He looked to her hand, which was still on his wrist, gentle as ever. She wasn't even slightly angry at him, was she? How could she be so calm? How could she be so forgiving? He had almost done the unthinkable. Mez moved his eyes from his wrist to her eyes, face becoming hot and his throat tightening up. He was hoping that this would be an emotion he wouldn't have to experience for a while yet, but soon enough tears were brimming his eyes. As their eyes met, Arisen gave him a reassuring smile and a look of understanding, doing her best to calm the boy. That smile - that look of forgiveness was all it took. Mez's shoulders began to shake, tears spilling down his face as he slumped forward… losing the ability to hold himself up.

Arisen frowned, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him back toward her. He didn't have the energy to fight her, letting out a choked sob as she guided him in to a tight hug. "You are going to be okay, Mez," she said gently.

This only made Mez shake harder, finally letting out a long and labored cry, which he had been fighting for several minutes now. He weakly reached up and grabbed a fistful of her robes, clutching them tightly in his fist as he began to cry openly. She shook her head and used her sleeve to try to wipe his face clean of the tears, but they were soon replaced with more. The shame was too much - he buried his face in to her shoulder to hide himself away. He couldn't take the kindness, or the forgiveness. He had almost killed the one person he was meant to protect, and it was eating him up inside. She sighed, realizing just how much he blamed himself for all of this. Placing her finger under his chin, she did her best to try to coax the pawn to look at her, "Mez… Mez, look at me." He did his best to fight her, so she cupped his face in her hands and made him look, knowing that this was important. He did his best to divert his eyes from her's, but she held his face there as long as it would take, waiting for their gazes to meet. As he finally looked back, slowly but surely, she said firmly, "what happened was utterly out of your control, Mez. There was no way for you to fight the Drake back."

Mez let out a choked sob before sputtering, "I… I was not strong enough… I…"

Arisen cut him off, "have you ever heard of a pawn ever being able to fight this?" Mez bit his lip and shook his head just slightly. She sighed, "then why in the world are you being so harsh with yourself…?" He couldn't answer her, tears welling up in his eyes yet again. "You have done nothing wrong. If other pawns cannot fight it, then there is no reason that you should hold yourself to different standards, do you understand me…?" she said firmly, but gently, wanting to make sure he didn't continue beating himself up over this. He watched the Arisen as she did her best to get her point across, eyes wide, not even blinking as tears spilled over. Mez contemplated what the Arisen had said, and slowly nodded, tears still falling. Finally getting her answer, Arisen's face softened, bringing the pawn back in to a tight embrace.

Mez buried his face in to her shoulder, crying audibly again, though a bit more controlled. "I… it i-is just that… that this is all I'm good f-" he stopped himself, wincing as he remembered the conversation they'd had a couple weeks past. He quickly changed his words, "this i-is my job, Arisen… I… I am to protect you."

"And you do a fine job, Mez," Arisen said, sighing as she rubbed his back, "we all have things we cannot fight. You may feel it is your sole duty to protect me, but I also feel the calling to protect you, along with Sybille and Merry. I… should have been quicker, Mez. I should have worked faster to make the Drake release you, I-"

Mez's eyes widened and he cut her off rather abruptly, "that… that is nonsense!" Voice wavering and body shaking from a rather sudden burst of emotion, he pulled his face out from her robes and looked her in the eyes, "'tis not your job!"

"'Tis!" Arisen shouted back, eyes wide and brow furrowed, before lowering her voice back to her usual calm demeanor. She bit her lip as she realized what she had just done, sighing and lowering her eyes to her feet.

"Arisen," Mez said, doing his best to pull himself together so he could speak more seriously, "you may be the Arisen, but you are still human. You cannot fix everything, nor is it your job to do so."

She sighed and appeared to regain her composure, which was only lost for a short while, "I… I suppose you are right." Mez wasn't completely sure if she actually believed him or not, and hoped this wouldn't hamper them in the future. The entire group seemed rather shaken up from the encounter, and he was beginning to wonder if it had affected the Arisen even worse than it had himself. He had never heard her yell, not once. Either way, they would have to wait and see. Until then, they were all present and accounted for.

Mez laid his head on her shoulder for a moment, still regaining his own composure. Arisen took a deep breath and hugged him tightly, staying silent. There was much on her mind - mainly how her incompetence had affected Mez.

Sybille and Merry sat outside of Aestella's, counting the curatives they had just bought. Merry seemed to be in a daze, and Sybille looked to her, concerned, "are you alright?"

"I… am fine," Merry said, "I am just thinking of a master I had long ago." Sybille looked up at her curiously, wondering if she should ask. Merry just shook her head, reminiscing about the young Arisen she was sworn to protect. If only she'd been stronger.

* * *

Well that's the end of Chapter Two. It's been driving me nuts, trying to think of a proper way to end this one. I feel like it's more of a lead-in to Chapter 3… so I guess that's why this one's so short compared to Chapter One. Expect Chapter Three to be a bit longer. I hope you enjoyed this. =]

Thanks,

Johnna


	3. Chapter 3 - A Human Being

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Well, I've been playing Dragon's Dogma nonstop for a few weeks now, and chapter three has been in my head almost as long. I've been itching for a while to write this chapter. I've been dying to turn the tables a bit. I hope you enjoy it. =]

This chapter contains **nonsexual spanking **- don't like, then please don't read.

**I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT! Soon I will be changing my Pen Name! I just wanted to let the few readers I have know... if you can't find LawlietNoOtaku, that's because I've changed my Pen Name!**

r&r下さい〜！ありがとうございます！

* * *

Drip. Drip. Drip. Each drop echoed throughout the cave as blood spilled down the Arisen's arm and splattered to the ground. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the blood, landing the final blow to the massive ogre in front of her. She landed to the ground, clutching her sides and grasping for air. She had just summoned every ounce of energy she had to destroy the beast, and was completely out of stamina. Arisen didn't even realize - the ogre had not hit the ground yet… and it was about to fall right on top of her. Mez's eyes widened, darting across the chamber and pushing her out of the way before it could topple on top of her. He sighed and handed her a mushroom, saying in a hushed voice, "you cannot leave such an opening."

She took the mushroom from his hands and popped it in her mouth, looking up at him, "I am fine, I was just catching my breath." Mez sighed, not sure if she realized she had almost been crushed. She dusted herself off and began sifting through the Ogre's remains for valuable items.

Merry, Mez and Sybille all looked at each other nervously, before Merry finally piped up, "Arisen, perhaps we should head back to Gran Soren now, you are badly injured."

"I am fine, besides, we still have one more ogre to take down," she insisted, swiping her bangs from her face. Arisen's long, wavy, chestnut colored hair had been replaced with a short, messy cut… and her Archistaff replaced with Bardiche Daggers and a sturdy bow. She sheathed her daggers, tucking them in to her belt. Her Sage's Robes and Knight's Mantle had been packed away and replaced with Red Leather Armor and a pair of Red Leather Cuisses. Everything about her had changed rather drastically in a very short amount of time, and not one of her pawns were left without worry. It had been just a week or two since the Drake attack, and Arisen had become shaken to the very core.

She rifled through her pouch, checking for curatives - there were plenty of mushrooms, but absolutely no potent greenwarish. Arisen sighed, putting her pouch away and getting to her feet, heading toward the door to the final chamber. Mez hastened toward her, grabbing her arm and wincing at the gash, "Arisen, you are bleeding rather badly. PLEASE, be more cautious…" he pleaded.

"I am aware, but we still have one more ogre," she said, pulling her arm away from him and beginning to head toward the chamber.

Mez sighed, "and what of the curatives?"

"I won't need them," she insisted gently, unsheathing her daggers and hiding behind a pillar, hearing the ogre breathing. "The sight of women excites it - I shall lure it out, then we can strike," she explained.

"Have you lost your mind," Sybille hissed under her breath, "you are already injured, and my healing cannot help you much more! We need curatives!"

Arisen was hardly paying attention - running out toward the ogre. She wasn't going to put one of her pawns in harm's way, and she wanted this done with quickly. She saw this as the only way. As the ogre turned around, its eyes got very large - it beginning to jump up and down, grunting. It was very obviously delighted with its new visitor! The creature ran toward her, arms outstretched in her direction. Arisen tried to lift her daggers, grimacing as more blood poured down her arm. She knew she'd be of no use with her daggers, beginning to back up as the large monster ran toward her.

Mez's eyes widened as he saw the Arisen unable to defend herself, drawing his bow, landing a decisive blow to the ogre's chest. The beast staggered back in agony, but Arisen had already lost her balance, feet going out from under her, causing her to fall backwards off of the ledge. "Wuh-AH!" she shouted, landing back-first on to the hard ground.

"M-Master!" Sybille shouted, running to her side and feeling for a pulse. She immediately began to heal her, but noted a good wound on the back of the Arisen's skull - this would take a while to heal, and Arisen needed curatives badly.

Merry growled and reared back, then charging at the beast with her sword. Mez soon followed suit, jumping in to the air and latching on to its back, hacking away at it's neck. Mez and Merry's adrenaline was pumping, their main concern being getting Arisen out of the cave and back to her home town so they could heal her. They reduced the ogre to a bloody mass on the ground in no time flat, the beast hardly having time to react. The moment it crumpled to the ground, the two of them ran to join Sybille. Mez shook his head, kneeling down and picking up the Arisen, doing his best to support her head, "might we have a Ferrystone?" he asked.

Sybille pulled one from her pocket, "shall we go to Gran Soren, or Cassardis?"

"Cassardis," Merry said firmly, "we'd have use of their healer, and she could rest in her own bed." Sybille nodded, rearing her arm back and throwing the Ferrystone into the air. Within a matter of seconds the four of them had been transported to the Portcrystal Arisen had placed just outside of Cassardis. They hastened to get their Master inside, heading toward her home.

"I shall take her to her bed, one of you should go get Benita, or perhaps Quina," Mez instructed. Merry nodded and went in search of a healer, while Mez and Sybille brought Arisen to her home. He leaned down, laying her in her bed carefully and sitting on the side, waiting, resting his head in his hands worriedly.

As hours turned in to days, the pawns sat around their Master's bedside loyally, waiting for the curatives and healing to take effect. The spill she took was no easy thing to remedy, but eventually she was awake and talking. By the third day, her wounds were completely healed, though her body was still rather fatigued. Able to sit up and walk, the Arisen was in a hurry to get back out and explore - but her pawns knew better. She was by no means well enough to run, let alone fight.

The Arisen stared out her window - the sun had gone down, and stars lit the sky. Her pawns were out collecting food for her, and she was going stir crazy. She crawled out of bed, searching for her armor - currently dressed in a simple shirt and cloth pants. Mez opened the door and walked in, setting her groceries by the fire, and then looking at her, "Arisen, what are you doing?"

"Looking for my armor," she answered, "where are Sybille and Merry?"

Mez blinked, "they have gone to the inn to rest for the night, I've just come to bring you dinner. Why are you looking for your armor, Master?"

"Because we are already behind enough as is," she said, looking under her bed, "we need to get back out there."

"Arisen…" Mez said, helping her get to her feet, "you are still too injured."

"My wounds have healed!" she corrected him.

He sighed, "aye, but your body is still very weak - fighting as is would be a death sentence."

She ignored him, rifling through her bag, "where is the loot from the third ogre?"

"We did not have TIME to loot the ogre, Arisen, you were bleeding too heavily. We had to get you back to Cassardis," Mez explained.

"What?" she asked, rather panicked, "we need the loot! We need better equipment - how are we going to afford it?"

"I'd be more concerned about curatives than equipment, Arisen," he said, "you could have died, all because we ran out of Greenwarish… and you're concerned with equipment?" He was really beginning to wonder if she had her priorities straight.

"It does not matter," she shouted accusingly, "if I am not strong enough then nothing matters! I need better equipment, and I cannot do that now, because you did not loot the ogre!"

Mez's eyes widened, amazed that she would say such a thing. All he had been doing was watching out for her, and now she was yelling at him for getting her to safety instead of looting the damn ogre. He wasn't completely sure what had gotten in to her in the past couple of weeks, but she had completely changed - not only in fighting style, but in personality… and their group was falling apart. At this rate, she was going to become lunch for the dragon, and he wasn't about ready to let that happen.

He took a deep breath, walking over to her and calmly grabbing her wrist. She blinked, not quite sure what he was doing. Mez sat down on her bed, before gently but firmly pulling her straight over his lap, landing a good, hard smack to her backside.

"A-AH, MEZ!" she yelled, trying to get back up, "w-what are you doing?!"

He pressed his free hand in to the small of her back, keeping her held down and hooking his fingers in to the waistband of her pants, pulling them down to her knees. Arisen's eyes grew wide, frozen in shock, not even trying to push herself back up. Mez immediately landed a flurry of spanks in succession, this time on her bare bottom, causing her to jolt forward and reach her hand back, "l-let me up this instant!"

Mez was naturally inclined to listen to her and let her up, but did his best to fight his instincts as a pawn. The way things were going, she was going to get herself killed… and he'd never forgive himself if he just stood by and let that happen. Instead of letting her up, he pinned her wrist to the small of her back and smacked harder, saying meekly, "I am sorry, Master, but… but you are out of control…"

"NNG! I h-have no idea what you're talking about!" she shouted, kicking her legs, "now let me UP and give me my armor! We have a dragon to kill!"

Mez furrowed his brow, tears brimming his eyes, not only from having to disobey her, but from how reckless she had become. He began landing a harder barrage of smacks to her thighs, "BRYNN. Listen to yourself. Why are you are so quick to hasten to your death?!"

She clenched her teeth as he moved to her thighs, but froze as he used her real name. She had never heard any of her pawns address her by her real name, or anyone, for that matter… not since becoming the Arisen. By now, she was so used to everyone seeing her as the Arisen, not as herself. She honestly didn't even know that her pawns knew her name, as silly as that was. She bit her lip, not wanting to answer his question.

Mez sighed, "why? Why do you hurry to the Dragon? You know you are not ready."

She just shook her head, not answering him. She wasn't sure how to word this, but somewhat knew the answer… though she didn't want to say it.

He took a deep breath and started the spanking back up, moving the smacks back to her backside, landing them swiftly and repeatedly. She grimaced and kicked her legs just slightly, though not fighting him as hard as she had been. She KNEW she had her priorities wrong. She KNEW she was rushing to her demise. She knew he was right, and that killed her. She didn't have it in her to command him to stop, knowing he was right.

Mez wasn't even sure if he was doing the right thing, but her sudden lack of fight made him think that just maybe he was making her think this through a second time… and if that spared her from becoming dragon food, then it was worth it. There was more on his mind that he knew had to be discussed, and he was afraid to bring it up… also afraid that maybe she would not be able to forgive him for disobeying her orders… but he was more afraid of her dying. He pressed on, "in the past few weeks you have changed every little thing about yourself, pray, what is going on?" She stayed silent, biting her lip and shaking her head - she didn't want to tell him. He sighed and landed a good, hard smack to her right thigh, "Brynn."

"A-AHN!" she yelled out, gritting her teeth and jolting forward, before saying shakily, "I… was not strong enough!"

"Not strong enough for what…?" he asked curiously.

"To…" she shook just a little, trying to fight the words, "to protect you. I was not strong enough to protect you…"

His eyes widened, "Arisen… are you… are you talking about the Drake?" She couldn't bring herself to speak, merely nodding her head fervently. Mez didn't even know what to say to that, but knew he'd have to say something. Tears almost immediately began brimming his eyes - she was acting this way because of that horrid Drake? She was acting this way... because of him? He reared his hand back again, landing it roughly on her backside, and proceeding to repeat the process on her thighs and under-curves as well. Voice wavering and trying to hold his emotions back, trying to be logical, "you are human, Brynn… you cannot be perfect, no matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you train. 'Tis... 'tis true of both man and pawn..."

Arisen cried out, bucking forward and kicking her legs, "b-but… I…"

"No," he said firmly, smacking harder and faster, "I… I do not want to hear it, Master. We are all happy with you the way you are. We know you want to protect us, but do you think it makes us happy to see you running yourself into the ground like this?" His voice was wavering even more now, trying to hold back emotions that he didn't particularly want to be experiencing. Her brow furrowed at the emotion in his voice, clenching her teeth as his spanks got much harder. She had never been spanked this hard, but then again there were no highly skilled Rangers living in Cassardis when she was growing up. Mez landed the spanks more firmly, "it is killing us to see you like this."

Tears began to brim her eyes just a bit before she said in a hushed tone, "I… I am sorry… to have worried you." She hadn't realized how much her actions had affected her pawns, or that they were worrying for her. That was the last thing she wanted to do.

Mez sighed, stopping the spanking for a moment and rubbing her back, though he was not done just yet. "You… you need not worry so much about us. We cannot die - we are more concerned with your wellbeing for that reason - which brings me to my next question." He took a deep breath, "why are you hastening to the dragon? You are not ready, and you know that."

She bit her lip and tensed up a bit, not wanting to answer. Mez frowned, placing his hand on her shoulder supportively, trying to get her to talk. She clenched her jaw tightly before spitting out, "it does not matter when I fight him!"

Mez rose an eyebrow, "what do you mean, Master?"

"Everyone… e-everyone continues saying that no one can fell the wyrm," she said, spitting the words out with a hint of anger, "perhaps they are right."

He looked down to her, confused, "do you… do you even believe that, Arisen?"

"I…" she stuttered, "I do not know." She teared up more, not knowing what she felt or thought.

Mez sighed and brought his hand back, starting the spanking back up again, "if you feel that way, then why would you rush to it?"

"I do not KNOW, alright Mez?" she said, almost yelling it, "but it is not something I can run from or I shall be a coward!" She gritted her teeth through the spanks, enduring what Mez felt necessary.

Mez shook his head, moving the smacks down to her thighs, "no one is telling you to run, but even the people of Gran Soren would tell you not to face the beast until you felt at least somewhat confident in your skills, Arisen. You train. You train until you feel at least SLIGHTLY ready. You cannot rush in to this, or you will lose your life!"

Arisen teared up further as he moved the spanking down toward her thighs, beginning to squirm and kick rather violently against his hold on her, but he kept her held securely, delivering the hardest spanks yet to the soft under-curve or her bottom. She yelled out, millions of thoughts rushing through her head all at once. She knew Mez was right, and that she should not be rushing toward her death. Deep down, she truly did believe she could defeat the dragon, but the same thing just kept running through her head. She let out a choked sob, fighting her emotions, before a horrible, guttural noise escaped her lips, and then almost yelling, "I D-DID NOT ASK TO BE THE A-ARISEN!" Tears began to pour down her face, "I did n-not ask… to have t'kill the d-dragon. I did not a-ask for this responsibility… I-I… I…" she went limp, no longer trying to fight, and beginning to sob openly, "I…"

Mez's expression was that of pure shock as she completely broke down, having never seen his master in such a state. Not knowing what else he could do, he pulled her up to sit on his lap like she had for him after his spanking. As he pulled her in to a tight embrace, she buried her face into his violet neck wrap, sobbing harder and balling her hand into a fist and gently pounding it against his lamellar jacket, "'tis n-not right! 'Tis… 't-tis not fair."

Mez sighed and wrapped his arms around her more securely, shutting his eyes tightly and letting her pound on his armor, "I… I know, 'tis not fair, Brynn." He spoke gently, doing his best to calm the girl, "I know… you… you did not ask for any of this."

His words just made her cry harder, though comforted her in a strange way. She had felt so horrible for thinking such thoughts about what everyone was calling her destiny, and the fact that he wasn't shooting her down for thinking that way meant the world to her. There was finally someone else out there now, acknowledging the injustice in all of this. She felt horrible for worrying him and the others, momentarily pulling her face out of his shoulder and looking up at him with red, puffy eyes, "I… I am sorry…"

He had always found her eyes most unique - her right eye hazel, and the left a light, powder blue. Her irises were now surrounded by red, irritated blood vessels, eyes looking frantic and almost panicked as the realization of what she had done hit her. Mez did not entirely blame her, understanding what a horrific, unfair hand she'd been dealt. He was never angry with her - unbelievably worried, yes, but never angry... the truth is, it was extremely hard for him to become angered. He could not leave her thinking that he still harbored any poor feelings. Mez's face softened, saying gently "you need not apologize, Brynn."

Tears brimming her eyes once again, she tucked her face away in his shoulder, her own shoulders shaking as she tried to hold the tears back - she was not successful. The tears were flowing down her cheeks again, and she couldn't help herself from crying audibly once more. Though she was relieved to have Mez's forgiveness, it was almost too much to handle. She had locked these feelings away for so long, with an intense fear of showing them… petrified of being judged for questioning her fate. She appreciated the opportunity to explore freely and better herself, but felt her life had been taken from her by force. Sometimes she just wanted to be a fisherman again, and go back to living the simple life in Cassardis. She didn't dare tell anyone that, though. The more she thought about it, the harder she cried into Mez's shoulder, having an increasingly hard time calming down.

Mez frowned, keeping her held close with one arm and reaching back behind his head to untie his newly acquired Gossip's Mask with the other. He balled it up in his hand, lifting her chin so he could dab her face clean of the tears. "You'll be fine now…" Mez said gently, cleaning her face, "Merry, Sybille and I will be right by your side, and we shall take all the time you need to prepare. There is no need to rush."

The Arisen hiccuped, nodding a bit and slowly beginning to control herself. No longer shaking, she laid her head on Mez's shoulder, still crying lightly. He ran his fingers through her hair, doing his best to comfort her. As he did so, she realized that perhaps chopping most of her hair off was a bit rash - maybe she'd grow it back. After several minutes, the Arisen's cries had gone from cries to the occasional hiccup. Mez smiled, dabbing her face one last time with his mask. He was unbelievably relieved that his Master wasn't angry with him for what he'd done, the idea of her being upset with him one of the absolutely worst things that could happen in his life. He smiled just a bit, muttering softly, "this pawn would be lost without you, Master."

Arisen sniffled, wrapping her arms around his neck weakly, a small smile creeping across her face. Even after everything she put him and the other pawns through, and even though he had to bring her back down to earth, he still respected her. That meant the world to her. She laid against him limply, absolutely worn out from positively everything. He looked the exhausted girl over, "we aught to get you some rest, Brynn," he said gently, helping her to her feet. She nodded quietly, hardly even able to keep her eyes open, her body still badly fatigued from her fall. Mez pulled back the covers for her, ushering her to lay down. Arisen rubbed her eyes, slowly climbing underneath the covers and curling up on her left side to face him. She didn't bother pulling her pants back up, knowing it would only hurt to do so, letting them hang loosely around her knees as she lay in bed. He sat on the side of the bed, placing his hand on her head, ruffling her hair just a little, "please, try to rest, Master."

Arisen nodded, looking up at her pawn and smiling just a little bit before pulling her hand out from under the covers, reaching for his. She still felt rather shaken up, and more than anything wanted to feel him there. Mez stayed by her side, grabbing her hand and holding it securely in his own. Her eyes grew heavy, slowly closing them, somewhat against her will, squeezing Mez's hand tightly. She tried to fight the sleep, wanting to stay with Mez, feeling secure for once in a very long time.

Mez shook his head and squeezed her hand back, "get some sleep, Brynn..." he tried to be firm, but it wasn't exactly one of his strong suits.

Arisen took a deep breath, nodding before slowly and reluctantly giving in to the exhaustion. It somewhat comforted her that Mez felt comfortable using "Brynn" and "Master" within the same few sentences. The fact that her pawns saw her as more than the Arisen meant the world to her. Ever since she started her journey as the Arisen, she had yearned to be the one thing that everyone had seemed to forget she was - a human being.

* * *

Well, that's that for that chapter. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be, or if there will even be one. Either way, I REALLY enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as well. =] Thank you!

Johnna


	4. Chapter 4 - Nightmares

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

After speaking with a good friend of mine, **Sarah, **I've decided what this next chapter would be about. It's time to focus on the other pawns a bit more now, though I am hesitant to go too far with Merry, since she is not mine - I even had to cut her name in half! xD; There's actually four more letters in her name. Anyway, this chapter is going to focus a bit more on Merry, and a bit of her past. I hope you enjoy reading it!

It's never really covered in the game if pawns sleep or eat - only that they don't die or age. In my little world, they sleep and eat xD!

**I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT! Soon I will be changing my Pen Name! I just wanted to let the few readers I have know... if you can't find LawlietNoOtaku, that's because I've changed my Pen Name!**

****ありがとうございます〜！

* * *

Arisen lay in her bed, face mashed into her pillow contently. Her hair was strewn across her pillow and her face messily, having grown longer after the last couple of months. As her sleep reached its peak, she was jolted from her slumber by a loud, long, blood curdling shriek. Arisen's eyes widened - that sounded like a woman… like Merry! She peeled the hair off of her face, stumbling out of bed and slamming into her table in the process. Not even bothering to pick up the table, she grabbed her daggers off of the floor and wrapped their holders around her waist. She ran next door to the inn, which was luckily attached to her house - likely the reason she heard the scream so well.

Stumbling through the side entrance, she found herself in Pablos' room. Looking to him, rather shaken, she asked quickly, "pray, forgive me for the intrusion, cos… but did you hear a scream just now?"

"Cousin," Pablos said, sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes vigorously, "I think half of Cassardis heard that… but no one else is here tonight but your pawns."

Arisen nodded quickly and bolted behind the counter and up the stairs, her fears being validated. She drew out her daggers as she approached the doorway, expecting to find some kind of combat… but as she got closer she heard not battle, but loud sniffling. Standing in the doorway, Arisen sheathed her weapons and stared at the scene before her. The lamp in the room was freshly lit, and Merry sat on the bed facing the doorway, face in her hands and shaking violently, Mez sitting next to her on her bed with an arm wrapped around her securely. Sybille sat up, almost in the fetal position in the bed on the opposite wall, wrapping the covers tightly around herself. She looked frightened, and very, very confused - looking on at the scene like a child afraid to ask what was going on.

Arisen's brow furrowed, "what… what is going on in here? Is everyone alright? I… I heard a scream…"

Merry's head shot up in surprise, staring up at the Arisen with wide, puffy eyes, wiping her turquoise hair from her sticky face. Her hair was not in its usual ponytail, Merry having let it down to sleep. "A-Arisen!" she said, shocked, straightening out her clothing and trying to look presentable. The last thing Merry wanted was to look like a mess in front of the Arisen - having a great respect for the girl. "I… I am fine Arisen, you should go back to sleep - we have much to d-do tomorrow." No matter how hard she tried to mask it, her voice was wavering.

Arisen's brow furrowed and she looked to Merry with disbelief, before looking over to the red headed pawn sitting next to her with a questioning stare.

"Merry…" Mez started, "this has gone on long enough, you must say something - it's obviously out in the open now anyway." Merry shot him a glare as if he had just betrayed her for not taking her side in front of the Arisen. He sighed, saying gently, but firmly, "this has been going on for months, only this time it was much worse." He half explained to Merry, and half to the Arisen, feeling like this was getting out of hand. Sybille looked to Arisen with a frightened expression, not really understanding what had been going on the past few months.

Arisen's face softened, entering the room and taking a seat next to the rather shaken up pawn. "Merry," she said gently, placing a hand on the girl's arm. Merry turned her face from the Arisen, not wanting to make eye contact as she could already feel her face becoming hot and the lump in her throat rising yet again. Merry was not like most pawns - she knew she could cry. She'd known that for a very, very long time - though it was not a weakness she wished to show in front of her master. Mez sighed as Merry refused to look at the Arisen, wishing that she wasn't so stubborn. Sybille stayed curled up against the wall, sitting on her bed and watching quietly. Being the youngest of the pawns, she was very new to many things, grief being one of them. Arisen sighed as her pawn stubbornly turned away from her, "Merry, pray, tell me what has been going on?" She had no idea that her pawn had been so distressed for the past couple months, though she was beginning to understand that both Mez and Sybille had been aware of it for a while.

Merry's eyes brimmed with tears, images flashing through her mind at warp speeds. Arisen bit her lip and placed her hand on Merry's chin, trying to coax her to turn to face her, hand almost slipping from how sweaty her skin was. A tear instantly slipped down her cheek at the Arisen's touch, landing on the hand on her chin. Arisen frowned, trying to get Merry to look even harder, without being forceful. The pawn desperately looked to Mez, as if expecting some kind of advice or explanation, and Mez simply nodded, trying to encourage her to depend on the Arisen for once. With that, she finally allowed Arisen to guide her face, causing their eyes to meet - Merry immediately breaking out into tears.

Arisen's jaw almost gaped open, seeing her most stubborn and emotionally rough pawn burst into tears - but she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to make Merry feel weak for deciding to confide in her. She wrapped both arms around the broken pawn, holding her tightly while she continued to sob, "pray, tell me what has been going on these past few nights?" Mez let go of the other pawn, allowing the Arisen to take his place in consoling her.

Merry buried her face into the Arisen's night shirt, hiding her face as she explained, "I… I've been having n-nightmares, Master."

Arisen rose an eyebrow, "…nightmares? Merry, that must be the worst nightmare in existence, for it to have you so shaken…" She was blown away that something as simple as a nightmare is what had her strongest pawn in tears.

"I…" Merry grimaced at the memory, eyes brimming with tears once again as she almost yelled, "t'was not just a dream… t'was… i-it really h-happened!" She finally pulled her face out of Arisen's shirt, looking at her with completely heartbroken, amber eyes, "i-it really… happened… long a-ago, Master."

The Arisen's face softened, realizing that perhaps her most stoic pawn had been hiding a rather personal tragedy. She made eye contact with the girl, who immediately diverted her eyes to the ground, asking, "pray, tell me what happened…?"

Merry shook her head emphatically, looking around the room frantically - she was never good at expressing herself, and not only had she never told the Arisen this story, but she hadn't told Mez or Sybille what the nightmares were about either. Her eyes welled over with tears as she looked to the Arisen with a panicked gaze. She didn't want to tell this story - they would never trust her again! They couldn't, could they?

Mez noticed the panic in her eyes, realizing she was deathly afraid of telling them what was ailing her. Was it something she did? "Merry," he said gently, "we have traveled together for quite a while now. We have fought together, ate together, done EVERYTHING together… we have had each other's backs in battle - you must now trust that we shall have it outside of battle as well. If… you cannot tell us, then who can you tell?" Arisen nodded quietly, grateful that Mez was able to get out the words that she couldn't.

Merry's face twisted as she listened to Mez speak before spitting out, "I d-do not know if I can tell anyone!" She looked back to the Arisen, voice wavering, "y-you would not want me anymore! I… I…" she looked down to the floor, "I want to fight alongside you, A-Arisen." She didn't know what she would do if the Arisen tossed her back to the Rift - especially for this. She didn't think she could handle it.

"Merry," Arisen said gently, "you truly are a fool if you think anything you say could cause me to banish you." She kept one arm around Merry supportively, taking her other hand and cupping the pawn's face, "you said yourself, it was long ago. Whatever it was, 'tis over now - t'would be wrong of me to judge you."

By now, Sybille had slowly made her way across the room to sit next to Mez on the bed, blanket still wrapped around her small body and over her head. She looked to Mez for some kind of explanation, but he had none. Merry shut her eyes tightly as the Arisen cupped her face in her hand, he entire body trembling with fear. Shaking her head gently, she tried to pull away from the Arisen's embrace - but Brynn didn't plan on allowing that. She sighed, pulling the pawn into a tighter hug, "Merry, 'tis obvious that whatever is ailing you has been doing so for quite some time… and 'tis even more obvious that it is no simple gaffe that you shall simply GET OVER. I do not know if you realize this, but it is not just going to go away on it's own, Merry - 'tis only going to get worse." She put her hands on the pawn's shoulders, holding her at arm's length and looking her in the eyes, "if I have to, Merry, I shall put our traveling on hold until we get this straightened out." Mez almost laughed, not surprised that the Arisen had thrown that threat out there… as she had used it many times with him as well. He decided that perhaps it wasn't the best idea to laugh right now.

Merry almost began crying again as the Arisen not only threatened to put their traveling on hold, but used the word 'we' when describing that things had to be straightened out. Arisen wanted to help - she wasn't expecting Merry to fix it on her own. Merry diverted her eyes downward, "…..you… you shall not trade me in for another, Arisen?"

"I promise you, I will not," Arisen insisted. It struck her as odd that the pawn actually ever worried about such things. The way Merry was acting, she was beginning to wonder if other Arisens had found out her 'secret' and immediately traded her in for a different pawn. Could what she had to say truly be that bad?

Merry rose her head and looked to the other two pawns. What about them, though? Would they shun her? They had slowly become her closest friends - could she handle having them turn against her?

Mez smiled at her gently, a look of acceptance sewn across his face - a look that had always seemed to be permanently plastered there. The man had never been one to judge and was quite possibly the most compassionate out of the three of them - she knew that. Knowing that did not make things much easier, however. Sybille scooted closer to Mez, looking up at Merry with wide eyes. She was so confused - the oldest of the pawns looked so frightened, and that scared her - did she really think they would hate her? Sybille didn't even know if she was CAPABLE of hate, and she didn't plan on starting now. She looked up to the eldest pawn, and was convinced that there was nothing she could say to make her feel otherwise.

The warrior couldn't help but smile slightly as the youngest of them peeked up at her past Mez's shoulder. After carefully studying the other pawns in the room, Merry turned her attention back to the Arisen. Her face was stricken with many things - guilt, fear, worry, shame. Arisen smiled softly, doing her best to reassure the shaken pawn.

As Merry realized that the Arisen wasn't going to back down, she shook her head slowly, taking a deep breath and letting it out harshly, "t'was… t'was a little over two centuries past, Arisen," she began to explain.

Arisen nodded slowly, listening intently. Two centuries…? Over two hundred years? That's how long she had been living with this? She wanted to say something already, but kept quiet to listen to the warrior's story.

Merry drew in a shaky breath, "my master's name was Mira. She… she was a young girl, not very experienced. She couldn't have been older than sixteen." Her voice wavered a bit as she reminisced about the one that brought her into being, doing her best to keep composure. "She was always very energetic, and acted rather young for her age. She had quite the interest for things out of the ordinary, which is likely the reason for my… hair," she explained quietly, running her fingers through her turquoise-colored strands. They were an ever constant reminder of her Master, and she wasn't honestly sure if she loved it or hated it, but she didn't dare change it.

Arisen nodded quietly, not interrupting the pawn and listening to her speak. As she began toying with her hair, she wanted to reach out and hug Merry, knowing that seeing that turquoise hair in the corner of her eyes all the time must be painful She kept her hands to herself, though, and listened intently. Mez and Sybille could see the pain on her face already, as she explained the simplest of things about her master - though, both of them understood.

"We… we had only been traveling for a few months, just a few months less than us, now, Arisen," she explained, "but… she was not nearly as experienced as you. We traveled with two other pawns - Cayden and Axel." Her face became even more pained at the mention of the other two pawns, but she continued, "one day, we were in the forest gathering some things to better our weapons, it… it all went wrong." Merry's voice wavered yet again, "a Drake snuck up on u-us - we never even heard it coming until it was too late. I knew my Master was not ready to fight it, and so I told her that we needed to flee, but she d-did not listen - she wanted to fight it. The three of us… we had no choice but to follow her orders, no matter how dangerous, and so we… we fought. Cayden, he… mostly had defensive spells, not offensive… and Axel and I were both fairly young at the time and were not very skilled just yet."

She took a deep breath before continuing, "I ran at it, with my longsword, but I couldn't even touch it before it swiped me up in its hand." Merry began wringing her hands nervously, looking down at them now so she wouldn't have to look at the others, "it began muttering something, a-and everything went red. I could feel my body relaxing and I knew that… that it was taking me over." Mez shut his eyes tightly, beginning to have an idea of where this was going. Her voice began wavering, tears welling up in her eyes yet again, "I told her! I TOLD Mira that I couldn't control my actions and that she needed to r-run. I… I told her!" She looked to the Arisen with pleading eyes, needing her to understand that she did try to warn her master. Arisen frowned, nodding her head in understanding, as to reassure her pawn that she understood what she was saying. Merry looked back to her hands, "she w-would not listen! She still tried to save me, even though I kept telling her over and over that I couldn't die, she insisted that she would not leave me b-behind! She did not get far… it threw her back just by flapping its wings… and then it… it set me down, and everything was so foggy. My… body was not my own, anymore." She drew in a sharp intake of breath, recalling the painful memory, "I drew my longsword and looked down at Mira - she was sprawled out on the ground like some… broken doll, and she looked so scared." Merry held back a choked sob, determined to finish her story now that she began it, "a-and…"

Arisen waited a few seconds for Merry to continue, but she stayed quiet. Trying to coax the warrior to finish, Arisen asked gently, "and…?"

Merry bit her lip hard, causing it to bleed just slightly, before bursting out into uncontrollable sobs, "a-and then I F-FINISHED IT." Her shoulders raked with grief, burying her face into her hands in shame. Her whole body was tingling and hot, not accustomed to so much crying. She could taste the mixture of blood and tears as she tried to finish her last sentence, "I K-KILLED her." Merry slumped forward to the point of practically falling off the bed, sliding forward and downward on to the floor and releasing a deep, guttural cry - a noise someone only in very real grief could make.

Arisen cringed at the noises coming from Merry's mouth, before looking up at her other pawns. Sybille was in complete shock, still wrapped in her blanket and watching the older pawn break down on the floor. Mez didn't have the same look of shock - he was able to guess that Merry had been controlled by a Drake before, considering one of their previous conversations. He hadn't assumed she had killed her master, but he knew it had something to do with a damn Drake. Having gone through the same thing himself, he found himself incapable of being even remotely upset with the girl. He looked to the Arisen before getting to his feet and leaning down, hooking an arm under Merry's underarm. Arisen joined him, grabbing underneath her other arm and helping the Ranger lift her back up and on to the bed.

She couldn't fight them, she couldn't even control her own body at this point anymore, she was crying so hard. Mez helped Arisen hold Merry upright for a moment so she could get a firm grip on her, so she wouldn't fall again. Arisen wrapped her arms around the broken pawn, supporting her body weight - Mez finally let go. Merry wanted to hang on to the Arisen in return, but she felt so weak at this point that she could hardly lift her arms, entire body shaking violently from the memory of plunging her longsword into her Master's body. All she could do was lay against the Arisen, body trembling - she tried to look up at her, but just couldn't do it. "I am s-sorry…" was all she could croak out amongst her grief.

Arisen shook her head, holding her closer, "'tis not something you need apologize for." She almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was not angry or upset with the pawn, but was having a difficult time swallowing the information she was given. As she looked at the woman before her, all she could see was pure hurt, grief, and raw shame. How horrible…

"I have d-done the…" Merry took a deep breath before sputtering out through the tears, "the u-unthinkable!"

"Merry," Arisen said gently, stroking her hair, "t'was not your fault in any way. The Drake had control of your-"

"Mez was a-able to get enough control back t-to arch his arrow so it only hit your a-arm!" Merry shouted, convinced that she just wasn't a good enough pawn.

Mez's brow furrowed, placing one of his hands on her back, "Merry, I am ninety-eight years old!" He did his best to keep his voice lowered and calm, "I am much older now than you were then. You were inexperienced, and that was not your fault…"

"He is right," Arisen said gently, trying to brush the hair from her eyes, having to pick some of it off because of how wet her face was.

Merry's lip trembled as they exonerated her, slowly looking up and at Arisen with scared, puffy eyes. "You…" she began shakily, "y-you do not wish to… be r-rid of me?"

Brynn's face softened, taking one hand and cupping her drenched face, "of course not. You are an important part of my life - I am not sending you anywhere."

The warrior began to tremble again, tears welling up in her eyes and then looking in the direction of Mez and Sybille. What about them? She needed the Arisen's approval the most, but she needed their's as well. Mez smiled gently, showing yet again a face of acceptance. She began to wonder if his face really was permanently stuck like that! Could nothing phase this man? As she looked to Sybille, her heart sunk a bit - the youngest looked so afraid. "Do… do I frighten you," Merry asked gently, trying to hold the tears back.

Sybille shook her head, slipping off of the bed and standing in front of Merry, blanket still wrapped around her body, "I am worried for you."

Merry held her breath for a moment, before letting it out a choked sob, this time from relief instead of grief. She laid her head on the Arisen's shoulder, trying to catch her breath from the exhausting ordeal. Sybille sat down on the floor in front of them, before asking slowly but curiously, "what happened to Cayden and Axel…?" Merry's face instantly returned to that of grief, and Sybille already began to regret asking, "you, you do not have to speak on it if you do not-"

"When I came to," Merry interrupted, "Cayden was already gone. To this day, I do not know where he went - he took… t-took Mira back to her home town and disappeared. I awoke to Axel hovering over me - he had… he had stayed to make sure I was alright." She drew in a shaky breath before letting it out slowly, "I did not see him again after that. He did not tell me he had any ill feelings for me, but I could see the fear in his eyes." Merry sat up, able to hold herself up without assistance now. She didn't know what else to say, and looked down at her hands.

Arisen took her own hand and put it on Merry's, "we are not going anywhere, t'was not your fault." The other two nodded in agreement, not even having to think twice.

"'Tis not really about fault, Arisen," Merry said quietly, and slowly, trying to not sound defiant. "What I did… for a pawn, to… t-to…" she couldn't finish her sentence, simply skipping to the end to save herself from breaking into tears again, "'tis the ultimate taboo… the ultimate treason… the-"

Sybille jumped to her feet, standing in front of the oldest pawn. Even standing, the mage was only slightly taller than the warrior sitting in front of her. She shook her head sadly, before placing her hands on her hips, "what part of 'we are not going anywhere' do you not understand…?"

Merry couldn't help but smile just slightly at the pawn before her. It seemed she was always sporting with some kind of sass. This one said what was on her mind - something that had been etched into her since she popped out of The Rift and to the Arisen for the very first time in the Encampment. As Sybille saw a smile grace Merry's face, she smiled back, proudly, believing she was the one to calm Merry down; the others had to stifle their giggles, so not to hurt her pride.

"She is right," Mez said gently, "t'was not your fault." Merry opened her mouth to argue, but he put up his hand to stop her, "t'was not. Your fault." She silenced, knowing she had no leg to stand on among the three of them when it came to this argument. Mez knew better than anyone here, what is was like to be in a Drake's power.

After a moment of silence, Merry looked to the Arisen - she looked exhausted, "you… should go back to sleep, Master, we have much to do tomorrow."

Arisen frowned, worriedly looking her pawn over, "what of you, though?"

Merry tried to smile, before climbing back into bed and under the covers, "I shall be fine, now."

Arisen looked very unsure - she wasn't certain she wanted to leave Merry be tonight. Sybille saw the look on Arisen's face - not able to help but feel the same way. She knew how badly her Master needed sleep, though, and decided to be the solution. Blanket still wrapped around her, she climbed into bed next to Merry and laid there, looking up at Arisen, "she shall be fine, now."

Brynn couldn't help but smile a little at how ridiculous Sybille looked, cocooned in her blanket. She looked over to Mez, who gave her a gentle nod, as if saying 'we've got this, don't worry.' With that she nodded slowly, before saying firmly, "you are to wake me if anything happens, aye?"

Mez nodded gently, "aye, Master. I shall wake you if anything happens, I promise."

She relaxed a little before taking one last look at Merry, and then to the others before getting to her feet and heading to the door. Nervously, she said, "I shall be right next door…"

Mez smiled softly, trying not to laugh at her obvious statement, "yes, Arisen." She took that as the validation she needed, leaving the room and heading back down the stairs and to her house. Arisen picked up the table that she had knocked over earlier, setting it up right. She climbed back into bed and stared up at the ceiling, having a rather difficult time falling asleep. Arisen turned to face the wall attached to the inn, before closing her eyes, body on high alert, listening for any sounds.

Sybille turned to face the other pawn, but Merry was facing the wall. Sybille shrugged, leaning closely to the warrior so she knew she was there. Mez made his way back to his own bed, seeing that Sybille had things covered. As he lay in bed he couldn't help but contemplate just how Sybille had as much personality as she did. Most pawns her age had not been around enough Arisens to learn just who they were just yet… yet here Sybille was, quite sure of herself. It was very strange. Either way, Merry was taken care of, and that was what mattered.

Merry was still awake when Sybille leaned closer, smiling slightly and closing her puffy, sore eyes. It was the Drake battle with Mez that had brought on these nightmares. Part of them came from fear that her comrades would learn of her deceit to Mira, and that they would leave her. She no longer had to worry about that. Her shoulders shook just a little at the thought of the young Strider, before she finally allowed herself to be consumed by sleep - a beautiful, dreamless sleep.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It took me a while to finish, but that was because I went to England for two weeks to see my husband's friends and family! It was gorgeous there - I stayed with my in-laws in the West Midlands, and also got to visit my grandmother-in-law in Wales. It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad we got to make the trip!

I'll be introducing a new character to the story in the next chapter - I hope you'll like him! Thanks for reading, everyone!

ありがとうございます〜！

-Johnna  
-ジャナ


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